Furniture manufacturing supports more than 330,000 U.S. jobs in the latest monthly series, with cabinetmakers, bench carpenters, and team assemblers among its largest occupational groups. The latest figures also show preliminary producer-price readings through August 2026, 18,021 private establishments in the first quarter of 2026, and a mixed long-term picture: the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects lower employment but higher real output by 2035.
Contents
- Employment and unemployment
- Occupations inside furniture manufacturing
- Pay and working time
- Workplace safety
- Producer prices
- Establishments and the ten-year outlook
Employment and unemployment
The BLS monthly industry series covers furniture and related product manufacturing, rather than furniture production narrowly defined. All-employee employment was 330.7 thousand in May 2026 and 330.5 thousand in June. The July reading was 328.9 thousand, preliminary, before rising to 330.6 thousand in August, also preliminary. These figures are seasonally adjusted, so they are intended to make month-to-month movement easier to compare.
Production and nonsupervisory employment was 235.9 thousand in May 2026 and 233.9 thousand in June. The preliminary July figure was 233.3 thousand, followed by 233.5 thousand in preliminary August data. This group therefore represented the larger part of the industry’s monthly workforce in each of these observations, while the all-employee series includes the broader employee count.
The unemployment rate for people previously employed in furniture and related product manufacturing moved sharply during the same period. It was 0.0% in May 2026, 4.7% in June, 1.3% in July, and 0.0% in August. The July and August observations are not marked preliminary in the supplied BLS industry table, while the employment observations for those months are preliminary. Because these are monthly observations, they should be read as a short-term sequence rather than a long-run unemployment trend.
The source for these employment, unemployment, occupation, wage, hours, safety, and price figures is the BLS Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing: NAICS 337 series.
Occupations inside furniture manufacturing
Furniture manufacturing combines woodworking, finishing, assembly, upholstery, supervision, and machine operation. In 2025, cabinetmakers and bench carpenters accounted for 56,210 jobs in furniture and related product manufacturing. Team assemblers accounted for 38,870 jobs, making assembly another major occupational component.
The industry also included 15,350 first-line supervisors and managers of production and operating workers in 2025. Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders except sawing accounted for 14,590 jobs. Carpenters accounted for 11,620 jobs, while upholsterers accounted for 10,410 and furniture finishers accounted for 10,110.
The occupational distribution shows why furniture production is not a single-skill activity. The largest supplied job count was 56,210 cabinetmakers and bench carpenters, followed by 38,870 team assemblers. The remaining listed roles range from machine operation and carpentry to finishing, upholstery, and frontline production management. These counts describe jobs in the industry in 2025; they are not a ranking of every occupation that can work with furniture.
Pay and working time
Average hourly earnings for all employees increased across the reported 2026 months: $29.38 in May, $29.63 in June, $30.21 in preliminary July data, and $30.20 in preliminary August data. Average weekly hours for all employees were 39.0 in May and 39.0 in June, then 39.6 in preliminary July data and 39.2 in preliminary August data.
The production and nonsupervisory group had lower average hourly earnings in every reported month. Its average was $24.56 in May 2026, $24.69 in June, $25.32 in preliminary July data, and $25.34 in preliminary August data. Average weekly hours for this group were 38.5 in May, 38.8 in June, 39.5 in preliminary July data, and 38.8 in preliminary August data.
These industry averages provide a broad view, while occupation-specific medians show differences among roles. In 2025, the median hourly wage was $30.36 for first-line supervisors and managers of production and operating workers. Carpenters had a median hourly wage of $26.26. The median was $22.34 for cabinetmakers and bench carpenters and $22.08 for upholsterers.
The supplied 2025 occupational medians were lower for several production-focused roles: $21.85 for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders except sawing; $20.78 for furniture finishers; and $19.25 for team assemblers. These are median hourly wages for the named occupations in 2025, not the same measure as the 2026 industry-wide average hourly earnings series.
| Occupation or employee group | Measurement | Period |
|---|---|---|
| All employees | $30.20 average hourly earnings; 39.2 average weekly hours | August 2026, preliminary |
| Production and nonsupervisory employees | $25.34 average hourly earnings; 38.8 average weekly hours | August 2026, preliminary |
| First-line supervisors and managers | $30.36 median hourly wage | 2025 |
| Carpenters | $26.26 median hourly wage | 2025 |
| Team assemblers | $19.25 median hourly wage | 2025 |
The table compares different BLS measures and periods, so it should not be used as a direct wage ranking between the August industry averages and the 2025 occupational medians.
Workplace safety
Furniture and related product manufacturing recorded 7 workplace fatalities in 2023 and 5 in 2024. Fatality counts are annual totals and are separate from nonfatal injury and illness rates.
In 2024, the industry’s total recordable injury and illness rate was 3.5 cases per 100 full-time workers. The rate for cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer was 2.1 per 100 full-time workers. Within that measure, cases involving days away from work were recorded at 1.1 per 100 full-time workers, while cases involving job transfer or restriction were 1.0 per 100 full-time workers.
The categories describe different dimensions of workplace harm. The total recordable rate covers the broader recordable-case measure. The 2.1 rate identifies cases with a more specific consequence—days away, restriction, or transfer—and the 1.1 and 1.0 rates separate two parts of that consequence measure. The BLS figures are rates per 100 full-time workers for 2024, not percentages of all people who entered the industry.
Producer prices
The producer price index for furniture and related product manufacturing was 291.635 in preliminary May 2026 data. It rose to 295.870 in preliminary June data, 296.450 in preliminary July data, and 297.190 in preliminary August data.
The supplied BLS series also reports the month-over-month movement for each preliminary observation. The index increased 0.5% from the prior month in May 2026, 1.5% in June, 0.2% in July, and 0.2% in August. The index levels and monthly changes are separate readings: the level shows the index value for the month, while the percentage describes movement from the prior month.
All four 2026 price observations are identified as preliminary. That status matters when using the figures for product planning, sourcing, or cost discussions. A preliminary reading can be revised, so August 2026 should not be treated as a final historical value.
Establishments and the ten-year outlook
Private furniture and related product manufacturing establishments numbered 17,964 in the second quarter of 2025, 17,996 in the third quarter, and 17,992 in the fourth quarter. The preliminary first-quarter 2026 count was 18,021. These are establishment counts, not employee counts: one establishment may employ many people, and the two measures answer different questions about industry scale.
The BLS Employment and Output by Industry table provides the longer-range comparison. BLS projects 337.8 thousand employees in furniture and related product manufacturing in 2025 and 316.4 thousand in 2035. The 2035 figure is a forecast, not an observed employment count.
Output is projected to move in the opposite direction. The BLS reports 61.4 billion chained 2017 dollars of output for the industry in 2025 and projects 64.4 billion chained 2017 dollars in 2035. Chained 2017 dollars are the output measure used in that BLS table; they are not current-dollar sales.
Together, the employment and output projections describe a specific scenario in the BLS industry outlook: employment is projected to decline from 337.8 thousand in 2025 to 316.4 thousand in 2035, while output is projected to rise from 61.4 billion chained 2017 dollars to 64.4 billion chained 2017 dollars. The figures do not explain why the projections differ, so they should not be extended into an unsupported claim about productivity, automation, demand, or pricing.
For product designers and manufacturers, the measurable picture is therefore multi-layered. Recent monthly employment stayed near 330,000, listed occupations span skilled woodwork through assembly and supervision, and preliminary producer prices rose across the May–August 2026 sequence. At the same time, establishment counts were just above 18,000 in preliminary first-quarter 2026 data, while the BLS long-range table separates a lower projected 2035 workforce from higher projected real output.